I've got a line on a guy with an engine block

[trav1856]

he says he's got hydraulic and mechanical of each. would I be better off getting a hydraulic or mechanical? What's the advantage of a hydraulic head/block?

[RabbitJockey]

solid lifter heads periodically need the valves adjusted, hydraulic lifter engines do not require this extra maintenance.  a properly adjusted solid lifter engine will typically run a smidgen better than a hydro engine.

the advantage of a hydro block is that u can run a metal head gasket from an aaz if you want.  and the hydraulic block can also have an aaz head bolted directly to it for an upgrade in flow and lower compression.  it depends what you want out of the car, if you want performance i would go the hydro route, if u just wanna build a stock or slightly modded engine, i would pick which ever lump is in better condition

[trav1856]

thanks for the advice, fine Sir.

[theman53]

I prefer the mech head. More snap off the bottom from my experience. You can use the metal HG on the mech block but it can be a pain as you have to block stuff off and it may leak causing you to do it again. Everything that Trevor said is 100% accurate.

[bajacalal]

Mechanical heads will have better performance, when properly tuned- and that goes for just about any engine out there.

The problem is, they need adjusted rather frequently, as much as gas engines need spark plug changes. And, VW diesel engines with mechanical heads require both special tools and special shims to adjust the valves. You can't just turn a locknut like you do with a lot of older engines. So I would choose the hydraulic head, just because they require less maintenance. The performance gains on our engines probably aren't very big anyway.

[shwak23]

I prefer the mech head. More snap off the bottom from my experience. You can use the metal HG on the mech block but it can be a pain as you have to block stuff off and it may leak causing you to do it again. Everything that Trevor said is 100% accurate.

More on what mods are required to run a metal head gasket on a mech block please.

[theman53]

There are many, many, many threads on it. I did a build thread that is in my sig and I showed what I did. Audi80, MJF, Zukgod, 53 willy's, saurkraut, and a few more have done them too. Up near the top right of the screen is a white box you can enter what you are looking for. Since it is this topic I think you should have few results if you search those names as well as the topic. I am not being smart as I see you only have 100 posts, so I am sincerely trying to help you.

[shwak23]

There are many, many, many threads on it. I did a build thread that is in my sig and I showed what I did. Audi80, MJF, Zukgod, 53 willy's, saurkraut, and a few more have done them too. Up near the top right of the screen is a white box you can enter what you are looking for. Since it is this topic I think you should have few results if you search those names as well as the topic. I am not being smart as I see you only have 100 posts, so I am sincerely trying to help you.

This made me choke so hard on my ego.

White box you say? And I just use these computer letters in front of me to put in what I want you say? Amazing.

 

[ORCoaster]

Type in white area for topic.  Now click on search box to right.  He left that step out.  But it seems intuitive.